Yoruba people

=== Government ===
[[File:Oyoxviii.jpeg|thumb|right|[[Oyo Empire]] and surrounding states|237px]]
Monarchies were a common form of government in Yorubaland, but they were not the only approach to government and social organization. The numerous Ijebu kingdom city-states to the west of Oyo and the [[Egba people]] communities, found in the forests below Ọyọ's savanna region, were notable exceptions. These independent polities often elected a king though real political, legislative, and judicial powers resided with the ''[[Ogboni]]'', a council of notable elders. The notion of the [[Sacred king|divine king]] was so important to the Yoruba, however, that it has been part of their organization in its various forms from their antiquity to the contemporary era.

[[File:Palace of Alaafin of Oyo circa mid-1900s - Colorized.png|thumb|left|Palace of the [[Alaafin|King]] of [[Oyo empire|Oyo]] circa 1900s - Colorized]]
During the [[Yoruba Civil Wars|internecine wars]] of the 19th century, the Ijebu forced citizens of more than 150 Ẹgba and [[Owu Kingdom|Owu]] communities to migrate to the fortified city of [[Abeokuta]]. Each quarter retained its own ''Ogboni'' council of civilian leaders, along with an ''Olorogun'', or council of military leaders, and in some cases, its own elected ''Obas'' or ''Baales''. These independent councils elected their most capable members to join a federal civilian and military council that represented the city as a whole. Commander [[Frederick Forestier-Walker|Frederick Forbes]], a representative of the British Crown writing an account of his visit to the city in the ''Church Military Intelligencer'' (1853),<ref name=Phillips>{{cite journal|pages=117–131|volume=10|number=1|journal=Journal of African History|title=The Egba at Abeokuta: Acculturation and Political change, 1830–1870|year=1969|author=Earl Phillips|doi=10.1017/s0021853700009312|jstor=180299|s2cid=154430100}}</ref> described Abẹokuta as having "four presidents", and the system of government as having "840 principal rulers or 'House of Lords,' 2800 secondary chiefs or 'House of Commons,' 140 principal military ones and 280 secondary ones."<ref name=contributions>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eiQHFrA7GUwC&pg=PR18|title=Contributions of Yoruba People in the Economic & Political Developments of Nigeria|author=Jacob Oluwatayo Adeuyan|publisher=AuthorHouse, 2011|isbn=978-1-4670-2480-8|page=18|date=12 October 2011}}</ref> He described Abẹokuta and its system of government as "the most extraordinary [[republic]] in the world."<ref name="contributions" />